Physical forces and mechanical properties have critical roles in cellular function, physiology
and disease. Over the past decade, atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques have …

Microorganisms have evolved to thrive in virtually any terrestrial and marine environment,
exposing them to various mechanical cues mainly generated by fluid flow and pressure as …

The microbial surface components recognizing adhesive matrix molecules (MSCRAMMs)
are a family of proteins that are defined by the presence of two adjacent IgG-like folded …

Staphylococcus epidermidis is a usually harmless commensal bacterium highly abundant
on the human skin. Under defined predisposing conditions, most importantly implantation of …

Bacterial adhesion to surfaces is a crucial step in initial biofilm formation. In a combined
experimental and computational approach, we studied the adhesion of the pathogenic …

Clum** factor A (ClfA), a cell-wall–anchored protein from Staphylococcus aureus, is a
virulence factor in various infections and facilitates the colonization of protein-coated …

Staphylococcus epidermidis is a ubiquitous commensal of human skin. The widespread use
of indwelling medical devices in modern medicine provides an opportunity for it to cause …

The surface of Staphylococcus aureus is decorated with over 20 proteins that are covalently
anchored to peptidoglycan by the action of sortase A. These cell wall-anchored (CWA) …

Understanding the fundamental forces involved in the adhesion of microbial cells is
important not only in microbiology, to elucidate cellular functions (such as ligand-binding or …

A variety of bacterial pathogens use nanoscale protein fibers called type IV pili to mediate
cell adhesion, a primary step leading to infection. Currently, how these nanofibers respond …